The present invention is related to a material collider, and more particularly to a material collider apparatus which can break down materials received into the apparatus, such as drill cuttings from a wellbore, to a reduced particle size for further use such as by reinjection of the refined cuttings down a wellbore.
Drill cuttings are an inevitable by-product of well drilling and their disposal has been a longstanding problem. Offshore drilling operations, in particular, are problematic because of the need to transport the cuttings to a landfill or a shore-based processing system.
One solution to this problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,109,933 and 5,129,469. These patents describe systems for disposing of drill cuttings by mixing the cuttings with a carrier liquid such as water, and reducing the size of the cuttings in a pump having an impeller of a backward swept blade type to form a slurry of the particles and the carrier liquid for injection into a well for disposal.
Other types of pulverizers and material breaking machinery are described, for example, in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 180,149 to Moore; 313,337 to Jesse; 442,815 to Meakin; 1,006,573 to Lockwood; 1,212,418 to Sturtevant; 1,635,453 to Agnew; 1,636,033 to Agnew; 2,903,192 to Clausen; 3,398,901 to O'Connor et al.; 3,806,047 to Ober; 3,966,126 to Werner; and 5,400,977 to Hayles, Jr.
The present invention provides a material collider apparatus for reducing the particle size of inserted particulate solid materials such as drill cuttings from a wellbore.
It is thus one object of the present invention to provide a material collider for use in a drill cuttings disposal system which can reduce the cuttings to the appropriate size in one pass of the cuttings through the material collider.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a material collider for use in a drill cuttings disposal system having parallel, counter-rotating rotors each having a plurality of rigidly mounted thrust guides which intermesh and cause reduction in size of the drillings by impact and shear on the thrust guides and assist in the collision of the drill cuttings with one another while passing through the system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a material collider for use in a drill cuttings disposal system wherein the material collider is provided with sealing means to minimize material spillage and flow to the bearings and the shafts.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a material collider which may be advantageously employed in pulverizing various materials, such as drill cuttings, agricultural products and various types of minerals.